[av_one_full first min_height=” vertical_alignment=” space=” custom_margin=” margin=’0px’ padding=’0px’ border=” border_color=” radius=’0px’ background_color=” src=” background_position=’top left’ background_repeat=’no-repeat’ animation=”]
[av_heading heading=’Floods damage crops, properties in Valencia’ tag=’h3′ style=’blockquote modern-quote’ size=” subheading_active=’subheading_below’ subheading_size=’15’ padding=’10’ color=” custom_font=”][/av_heading]
[av_textblock size=” font_color=’custom’ color=’#0a0a0a’]
Saturday, January 21, 2017
[/av_textblock]
[av_textblock size=” font_color=’custom’ color=’#0a0a0a’]
DUMAGUETE City – Flooding brought by heavy rains in the past days damaged at least P30 million worth of crops and properties in Valencia, Negros Oriental.
Mayor Edgar Teves considered declaring a state of calamity.
Public Information Officer Desiderio Tilos Jr. said the initial estimated cost of damage, recorded as of Thursday, was expected to go up.
According to Tilos, the mayor led an assessment team that checked the damage, especially along the Okoy River.
Teves directed the town’s Agriculture Office and Engineering Office to submit evaluation reports before the end of the week to determine if there is a need to declare a state of calamity, Tilos said.
Massive flooding triggered by heavy rains have caused landslides, landslips, swelling, and overflowing rivers, and impassable roads and spillways in Valencia and nearby areas like Dumaguete City, Bacong and Sibulan.
Dikes, ripraps and breakwaters were reported destroyed at the Okoy River, while scouring of riverbanks was also observed.
Meanwhile the Energy Development Corp.’s (EDC) Southern Negros Geothermal Power Plant in Valencia mobilized its Barangay Emergency Response Teams to help monitor affected families in their partner-barangays.
The EDC is coordinating with barangay captains for updates, while its Energy Camp was turned into a temporary evacuation site for nearby residents, said Norreen Bautista, head of Community Partnerships, External Relations and Watershed Management.
Bautista said the EDC also “helped the local government unit of Valencia with a stake truck for debris clearing.”
“For minor landslides in our area, we have cleared the roads to make it passable while we continue hauling the debris,” she said. (PNA)
[/av_textblock]
[/av_one_full]
